Jump to:

• set-back
  set-back

  noun

  the interval by which a chain or tape exceeds the length being measured.
• set back
  set back

  verb

  to hinder; impede

set-back

American  

[set-bak] / ˈsɛtˌbæk /

noun

1. Surveying. the interval by which a chain or tape exceeds the length being measured.

2. setback.

---

set back British  

verb

1. to hinder; impede

2. informal to cost (a person) a specified amount

---

noun

1. anything that serves to hinder or impede

2. a recession in the upper part of a high building, esp one that increases the daylight at lower levels

3. Also called: offset.   setoff.  a steplike shelf where a wall is reduced in thickness

set back Idioms  

1. Slow down the progress of, hinder, as in The project was set back by the frequent absences of staff members . [First half of 1500s]

2. Cost, as in That car set me back twenty thousand dollars . [ Colloquial ; c. 1900]

3. Change to a lower level or earlier time, as in We set back the thermostat whenever we go on vacation , or On October 10 we have to set back the clocks . [First half of 1600s] Set back the clock is also used figuratively to mean “return to an earlier era,” as in He wished he could set back the clock to those carefree high-school days . Also see set forward .

---

Etymology

Origin of set-back

Special use of setback

Example Sentences

Set back by a 10-point penalty at the end of last year for financial mismanagement, Everton restored its one-point cushion above the bottom three.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 14, 2024

Set back from the street wall, the facade leans over a narrow, gated forecourt with benches where elderly neighbors sometimes stop to take a breather and keep an eye on the block.

From New York Times • Dec. 12, 2022

Set back behind the road, unseen by the drivers and passengers, heavily armed foreign mercenaries remain in place and there is no sign of agreement on their withdrawal.

From Reuters • Aug. 12, 2021

Set back by a pair of early losing streaks, the Coyotes never really recovered and finished with one of the NHL’s worst records for the second straight season.

From Washington Times • Apr. 10, 2017

Set back on the land were pens for cattle, sheep and hogs; and around and about were sheds and houses belonging to the men who worked the docks and shipped the livestock.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier